Author publishes new book on Facebook first

An Israeli writer has decided to bypass traditional methods of publishing and print his work on Facebook.

Russian-born Alex Epstein, who moved to Israel as a child, is an award winning author and has enjoyed literary success with two collections of short stories.

But Mr Epstein, who was born in 1971, has given readers the chance to sample his new book For My Next Illusion I Will Use Wings before it is published in hard copy.

The collection is available on a series of pictures in an album on Mr Epstein's Facebook page.

"The digital format has enormous advantages for the reader; but most of the time digital formats still try to imitate the experience of reading a book in print," he said. "I wanted to see if it could be different: how literature could evolve if the reader can see who of his friends likes the same stories, who is sharing the stories he shared with others."

He said the positive response to his idea had proved to him that "people do want to read short stories".

"Most of the time they just aren't given a real opportunity to discover it," he said.